on the road

Moral Courage Project named Visionary of the Year

Posted in Irshaddering Thoughts, On The Road, Announcements on Dec 04, 2009

With Emmy-winning Iranian actress Shohreh Agdashloo

“Hola!” from Los Angeles, where I’m accepting the 2009 Visionary Award bestowed by the Women’s International Film and Television Showcase.

This award recognizes the human rights campaign that the Moral Courage Project led over the summer. Inspired by the independent film, “The Stoning of Soraya M,” we used the movie and my thousands-strong Facebook community to galvanize people worldwide against the tribal practice of stoning in countries like Iran, Somolia, Afghanistan and Sudan.

According to Iranian actress Shohreh Agdashloo, who stars in “The Stoning,” international pressure has paid off: A few weeks after the film came out and our campaign gained steam, Iranian authorities announced that stoning would no longer be part of Iran’s penal code. Whether the new regulation gets enforced — particularly in rural Iran — is another matter altogether.

Still, we can all take strength that global campaigns work when back-channel diplomacy doesn’t. Just ask Maziar Bahari. He’s the Newsweek journalist unjustly jailed by Iranian authorities.  After 118 days in the notoriously nasty Evin Prison, Bahari was sprung. Last week, he told interviewer Charlie Rose that an international and very public effort by his wife and fellow journalists made all the difference.

In my next book, I’ll offer more examples of people in the West allying with people in the East and triumphing for the eminently universal cause of human rights.

For now, here’s my message: Don’t be silenced by the woe-is-us crowd who insist that we’re merely pawns of The Man.  They don’t know world history or individual agency.  Most tragic, they also don’t know what it means to leave a legacy.  If you want to leave a legacy, then exercise your personal leadership for a greater good.

You can start by joining my Facebook community.  Facebookers form the vanguard of the Moral Courage Project. They’re the ones who propelled the summer 2009 campaign against stoning. They’re the ones who made it viral. They deserve the Visionary Award that brings me to Los Angeles.

I accept it on behalf of them.

Are you on The List?

Posted in Irshaddering Thoughts, On The Road, Announcements on Apr 05, 2009

Paparazzi swarm a party that I recently attended in India…

…But you’ll only hear the buzz by subscribing to The List

Last week, I blasted my latest e-newsletter to the several thousand members of my mailing list. The very first response I got? “Absolutely love your newsletter! It is interesting, youthful, exciting and informative.”

To which I responded, “Thanks mom.”

If you’re not on The List — my free and confidential mailing list, that is — subscribe here.

Read my e-newsletter here.

You can also read past newsletters by going to my new “Events” page and scrolling down. Enjoy all the photos!

By the way, I’m keenly aware that a lot of you are asking about my take on Afghanistan. I plan to address that in my next blog entry. For now, let’s just dance.

“Sit down!”: My moment with Musharraf

Posted in Irshaddering Thoughts, On The Road on Mar 23, 2009

Former Pakistani president Pervez Musharraf answering my question at the India Today Conclave in New Delhi

Some people back-pack in India. Others join meditation retreats. A lot of us visit relatives (because we’re in horrendous trouble if we don’t). One day, I hope to drop in on all my Aunties and Uncles. But for now, I’m satisfied with having used my India adventure to confront Pakistan’s former president, Pervez Musharraf, about honor killings.

Let me explain.

India Today — the news magazine of record in the sub-continent — invited me to speak at its annual conference, known as the India Today Conclave. My speech tackled the question, “Does terror have a religion?” (Quick answer: Terror has no particular religion, but it always has a dogma. Just ask Robespierre, luminary of the French Revolution, who hated institutional Christianity but embraced terror. As he notoriously announced, “Terror is only justice prompt, severe and inflexible; it is then an emanation of virtue…“)

Speaking at the India Today Conclave:

“Does Terror have a Religion?”

(Courtesy: Hemant Chawla/India Today)

On the final night of the conference, delegates convened for a gala dinner keynoted by Pervez Musharraf. I was seated at the head table — mere feet from the speaker as he addressed the entire ballroom. Musharraf called himself a “man for peace” and acknowledged the link between religious “extremism” and “terrorism.”

Given these statements, I had to pose a question. But how to get the moderator’s attention? After all, the majority of delegates — among India’s power players — were springing out of their seats to press Musharraf about Pakistan’s involvement in last November’s terrorist attacks on Bombay.

The moderator, India Today’s elegant editor-in-chief, ain’t no dummy. There was news to be made here. His sharp journalistic instincts compelled him to set aside the lion’s share of time for the boisterous debate about India’s 9/11.

In that atmosphere, what was I to do — knowing that my question would inconveniently change the topic?

Don’t let the look fool you: Maulana Madani, a progressive Muslim cleric, speaks after me and blasts gender bias in Islam

(Courtesy: Ravi Sahani/India Today)

Enter Pakistan’s ambassador to India, a refreshingly open-minded man who, it turns out, has defended my work since his days as Pakistan’s ambassador to Canada. (Talk about moral courage!) He waved to the moderator and directed his sight to me. The ambassador, God bless him, had no idea what I would ask. All he had was faith that it would be worth hearing. I tried to make it so.

Standing up, I broke with the barrage of hostility aimed at Musharraf and began, simply, with “salaam alaikum.” I wanted to assure him that I’m asking my question as a fellow Muslim – and a faithful one, at that. He let slip a smile of relief. The smile wouldn’t last, as my question came next:

Since you’ve emphasized the connection between extremism and terrorism, and since you’ve been respectfully challenged to find a post-presidential role for yourself as a “man for peace,” will you let me help you find a role in supporting the many Pakistani human rights activists who are working against the epidemic of honor killings in your country?

Musharraf paused. “Would you like to ask another question?” he retorted. No, I replied. Honor killings are an important issue, and this is a golden opportunity for you to declare before an august audience that you mean what you say.

At which point, Musharraf whipped out the cultural club. “Sit down!” he ordered.

I guess even retired generals never really hang up their army fatigues. For the sake of results, I did as he decreed and took my seat.

Musharraf launched into a defensive dissertation about women’s inequality being a problem all over the world, not just in Pakistan. He then insisted that his government took steps to end discrimination against women. (To an extent, he’s right, and I wrote about these efforts almost three years ago in the Los Angeles Times. Facing a robust campaign waged by Pakistani civil society, Musharraf did more to loosen the grip of strict Sharia than the late Benazir Bhutto ever did.)

But to those women who aren’t satisfied with what he’s already done, Musharraf said this: If you try to climb a ladder too fast, you’ll fall off. (Perhaps he should read the Letter from a Birmingham Jail, in which Martin Luther King Jr. writes, “For years now I have heard the word ‘Wait!’ It rings in the ear of every Negro with piercing familiarity. This ‘Wait’ has almost always meant ‘Never.’”)

Musharraf wrapped his reply by admitting that he’s really not sure what he can do now that he’s no longer president, but that “even in my present capacity if I can do anything, I would like to do it.” You gotta take victories where you can get them. I interpreted his parting words, however grudging and grumpy, as an invitation to send him ideas.

Daila Lama opens the India Today Conclave

Later, I told my new diplomatic BFF, the Pakistani ambassador to India, that by no means was I singling out Pakistani women as the only victims of male violence in our messed-up world. In fact, I’ve recently blogged about the anti-female ferocity of Hindu nationalists in India.

But surely it’s reasonable to expect Pervez Musharraf, as the former prez of Pakistan, to care about the plight of women in Pakistan. Imagine the impact that his voice could have: A high-profile (and, let’s face it, authoritarian) Muslim male, publicly protesting honor crimes, could give so many other Muslim men the permission to ally with women activists.

On top of it all, months after 9/11, Musharraf famously spoke about the need for Muslim enlightenment. By visibly opposing the abuse of faith that honor crimes brutally and blatantly represent, Musharraf would do his stated vision of Islam a huge service.

Over dinner, the ambassador introduced me to his daughter, a soft-spoken and whip-smart Muslim who, it turns out, has been immersed in the Pakistani struggle against honor killings. She thoroughly understood the purpose of raising this issue with Musharraf, especially in light of the privileged access we had to him that night. Above all, she volunteered to put me in touch with Pakistani advocates who would know how — or if — the former president ought to get involved.

Since then, India Today’s broadcast arm has aired my encounter with Pervez Musharraf, sparking a certain emotionalism:

“Its hard for me to express in words how outraged I was when I saw you on TV [with] Retired General Pervez Musharaf and questioning how you can help him change the customs that trouble not just Pakistan, but India as well (i.e honour killings)… My question to you is: How can I help you help the women in India?? How about the fact that there are 500,000 female fetuses aborted in India every year? Is that number a bit low for you? How about 20 million female fetuses aborted in India alone in the past 20 years. Please tell me how I can help you lessen the number of female fetuses killed by your innocent people of India?

There are NGOs in Pakistan functioning for the empowerment of women. As I’m sure there are in India as well. But please, stop acting like India is the creme brule when it comes to women’s rights and fix your own problems first. The best part of that segment was when Musharaf told you to ’sit down’.” - Dr. Said A. Chaudhry, Allama Iqbal Medical College, Lahore, Pakistan

And sit down, I did. But when will educated men like this stand up — and set an example for other countries by improving their own? Maybe if Pervez Musharraf made noise about honor killings, the fine Dr. Chaudhry would too. Maybe. It’s a possibility that begs to be pursued.

Peace out, people, and “Jai ho!” to human rights activists everywhere

(Ravi Sahani/India Today)

Signs of a new American foreign policy

Posted in Speeches, Irshaddering Thoughts, On The Road on Dec 04, 2008

On the day that President-elect Barack Obama announced his national security team, I addressed California State University about a new U.S. foreign policy towards the Muslim world.

My bottom line: To regain moral authority, America must balance its counter-terrorism thrust with a universal human rights perspective.

Afterwards, something happened for the first time in my many years of lecturing. I received an email from one of the sign language interpreters:

“Ms. Manji, I had the honor of interpreting for you last night. It was a life-altering moment. I am just now feeling the shift within me as your words are incorporated into my thoughts, who I am as a being of my culture, and my future course of action. In the coming days I will continue to sift through much of what I heard and processed as I worked. Your words were profoundly clear and clearly profound. Thank you for having the courage to change our world.” - Danell L. Fanning, CI & CT

Usually, the signers are “off to the side,” forgotten after the speech if they were even acknowledged in the first place. But I know how hard interpreters work to communicate complex ideas. They’re entitled to gratitude, recognition and cooperation. Which is why I try to be “profoundly clear” in my own communication. Whether I’m also “clearly profound” is for the listener to judge.

You can listen to my speech here.

“Other” people’s business — not

Posted in Irshaddering Thoughts, On The Road on Jul 24, 2008

Irshad with Eleanor Smeal, President of the Feminist Majority, which alerted America to the Taliban’s human rights abuses. (Photo: Talton Gibson)

As I explained in my previous blog entry, so much moral and legal confusion is infecting humanity’s shared journey to justice because of artificial notions about “us” and “them.” Sad thing is, many these notions are coming from my tribe — progressives.

Take the idea of cultural relativism. It’s the belief that there’s no universal standard of human dignity or human decency and consequently what “other people” do is none of “our” business.

Western feminists are especially vulnerable to this idea because they want to be seen as culturally sensitive to minorities. But should they stay silent when the traditions and norms of any minority reinforce the patriarchy that feminism is meant to oppose?

Are Western feminists being imperialists by speaking out about the oppression of women in societies beyond their own?

In an interdependent world, is there such a thing as “other” people’s business?

These are among the questions I addressed in a speech to America’s largest gathering of feminists, the National Organization for Women. Here are highlights:

It’s a privilege to be living in a democracy, where we have the precious freedoms to think, express, challenge and be challenged. As feminists, we know the power of voice. My question to you is: Will we make the choice to do more with our voice?

What I’m about to say might leave some of you uncomfortable. It might even leave some of you angry. Fine. Being unified is not about being uniform. Unity is about working for a common goal yet feeling free to express diversity of thought in pursuit of that goal.

And what should our common goal be today? I propose defending the universality of human rights. Why do I emphasize “universality”? Because around the world, a contest is raging between the rights of individuals and the so-called rights of cultures.

In Sydney, Australia, the Catholic Church has the won “right” not to be offended this entire month.

Throughout July, Sydney police have new powers to arrest and punish anybody who causes annoyance to participants of the Vatican-sponsored World Youth Day, even if annoyance is inflicted merely by wearing a T-Shirt with an irritating message. Penalties include partial strip searches and fines of more than $5,000. All in the name of cultural rights.

In Britain, Muslim lobbyists — egged on by a handful of non-Muslim church leaders, judges and politicians — are quietly seeking to introduce Sharia law, or Islamic law, also in the name of cultural rights.

Three years ago, a campaign to introduce Sharia almost succeeded in my own country of Canada. The first people to speak up against this manipulation of multiculturalism were Muslim women.

But they found that too many non-Muslim women were afraid to join them. Afraid, that is, of being called racists for getting involved in “other” people’s business. Remember when that was said about domestic violence — that it’s other people’s business?

Fear produces not just a lack of feminist unity, but also a lack of feminist integrity. How can we stay quiet about the abuse of women under most forms of religious law, including Sharia law? If feminists still view patriarchy as global (and I think we do unless I missed a memo), then differences in culture should not compel us to hit the mental mute button whenever Muslim men start speaking…

Another example of human rights getting trounced by culture: honor killings. The United Nations reports 5,000 honor killings worldwide every year — and that’s just the documented ones.

In 2006, I spoke at a major gathering of Amnesty International members. There, I met with Pakistani delegates who showed me, through case reports, that in their country alone, in the preceding year alone, at least 1,000 women had been killed for allegedly violating their family’s honor.

One thousand! As a Pakistani delegate pointed out to me, that’s twice the number of detainees at Guantanamo Bay. Non-Muslim feminists have been outspoken about human rights abuses at Gitmo. Honor crimes have not generated nearly so much condemnation.

Why?

Even serious speeches need fun moments. (Photo: Liz Newbury)

Too many of us are scared of being labeled “outside agitators” — you know, imperialists — for getting involved in “other” people’s business. And to rationalize our fears, we’re creating a religion of our own: the Church of Cultural Relativism.

The doctrine of this Church insists that there’s no universal standard of human decency or human dignity. Therefore, anything goes as long as it doesn’t affect me or my children.

But in an interdependent world, there’s no such thing “other” people’s business. What happens thousands of miles away sooner or later catches up to our children.

In September 1996, the Taliban began amputating the hands of women merely for flashing a patch of skin as they tried to pay for meat over a butcher’s counter. Back then, such amputations amounted to “other” people’s business.

A few morally courageous women and men, including some in America, tried to stop the Taliban. But they didn’t receive nearly enough help from the privileged. Us. Myself included.

Exactly five years later — September 2001 — “other” people’s business became our business…

Please understand, I’m not trying to over-dramatize the already dramatic. I’m trying to learn from the history of social justice.

Martin Luther King Jr. himself was labeled an “outside agitator” by eight liberal clergymen in Alabama. In his now-famous Letter from a Birmingham Jail, which he addressed to these clergymen, Rev. King confronted the realities of interdependence.

He said, “We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly affects all indirectly. Never again can we afford to live with the narrow, provincial ‘outside agitator’ idea.”

Since Rev. King wrote those words, citizenship has become that much more global. So let me suggest an additional nugget of King-like wisdom for our time: Never again can we live with the assumption that just because human beings are born equal, cultures are too.

Cultures are not born. Cultures are constructed. Which means there’s nothing sacred about cultures and therefore nothing sacrilegious, blasphemous, or unthinkable about seeking to reform the most oppressive aspects of cultures.

Will we offend? Yep. Is our offense a source of tension? You bet. Is tension the price of justice? Ask Rev. King.

In that same Letter from a Birmingham Jail, he wrote that the greatest barrier to African-American liberation is not the transparent racist; it’s the tepid progressive. It’s the person who fancies herself forward-looking, but who prefers what King called “negative peace,” which is the absence of tension, over “positive peace,” which is the presence of justice.

This point, made in the context of the battle for domestic civil rights, has stunning parallels to today’s struggle for universal human rights.

For more about my commitment to universal human rights, read up on my work with the European Foundation for Democracy.

The anti-death threat

Posted in Irshaddering Thoughts, On The Road on Jun 23, 2008

June 2008: Leaving Germany’s Council on Foreign Relations. Which one is my bodyguard? Guess again. (Photo: Ann Snyder)

In my previous post, I asked you to sign a statement against death threats. Now this from a reader:

“I am sending you the anti-death threat. This is a life wish. I wish you much happiness and joy in your life, and I hope that you will live long enough to see some of the change that you advocate for.” - Beth

The “life wish.” What a great antidote to the death threat.

It’s gotten me thinking about what we, as humans, instinctively focus on when we celebrate courage. So often — maybe too often — we lionize those who are killed in the pursuit of justice: Martin Luther King Jr., Mahatma Gandhi, Robert F. Kennedy, John F. Kennedy, Joan of Arc, Dietrich Bonhoeffer…

But what about those who fight injustice and survive? Aren’t the survivors at least as important as the martyrs? After all, survivors show us that our choice is not between living and dying, but between living and lying.

Dr. Susan Neiman, a philosopher who runs the Berlin-based Einstein Forum, recently wrote about this theme. She says that in commemorating the Holocaust, Germany “has chosen its resistance heroes, and it has chosen them wrong.

Every child here knows the names of Hans and Sophie Scholl, college students who were guillotined for distributing anti-Nazi pamphlets. Tom Cruise has added his fame to a new film about Claus Schenk von Stauffenberg, the oft-sung leader of a group of officers hanged for their failed attempt on Hitler’s life.

The courage of such people should not be forgotten, but the message their stories convey is grim: their deeds cost them their lives, and accomplished nothing. It’s a message that comforts the millions of Germans who didn’t try to oppose the regime.”

That’s a crucial point. Martyrdom in pursuit of the greater good may inspire us, but the inspiration lasts for a flash. Then we return to our daily existence, either relieved that we’re off the hook for doing nothing or depressed that doing “something” means dancing with death.

It doesn’t have to be that way. Dr. Neiman tells the story of a little-known yet highly successful act of resistance against Hitler’s henchmen:

“In 1943, when the Nazis were undecided about whether to deport and murder Jewish spouses of non-Jews, they tested the waters by rounding up nearly 2,000 Jewish men whose non-Jewish wives had already withstood considerable government pressure to divorce them.

These wives spontaneously gathered in front of the building in Rosenstrasse where their husbands were being held. For one long week they refused to leave the little square in central Berlin, despite the Gestapo machine guns trained upon them.

It’s often said that non-violent resistance worked for Gandhi and Martin Luther King because their oppressors were civilized; the governments of Britain and the United States could be bested by the moral courage of their opponents, while totalitarian regimes simply shoot them. This not only underestimates the evils of racism, but also our possibilities of combating them.

For in Berlin’s Rosenstrasse, the police backed down. The men were released. They and their families survived. And in a country that devotes so much time and energy to commemorating the victims, these brave women remain anonymous; all that really marks their story is a small, clay-colored memorial in a park that few Berliners know.

Seeing it moves many to tears. But what’s tragic are not these heroes, but the fact that there were not more. Others were deterred less by Nazi terror than by a much older message: heroic action is futile, and mostly ends in death, besides.

After all these years, isn’t it time to send a message to Germany’s children — and everyone else’s — that will help them stand up against present evils as well as mourning past ones?”

Bravo.

That’s why a few months after my book came out, I ditched my bodyguards. The death threats continue to this day, but I stand by my decision. If I’m going to convince young Muslims that it’s possible to challenge dogma and live, I can’t have a big burly guy (or gal) looking out for me everywhere I go.

So far, so good. I’m still alive (yes, it really is me blogging). More than that, every once in a while I hear from a young Muslim who says he or she wants to help the campaign for ijtihad because “you’re sincere.”

Translation: Despite the death threats, this mission for Muslim reform isn’t driven by a messiah complex or the glamour of danger. It’s driven by gratitude for the freedoms that most of our globe doesn’t yet have.

So I intend to keep living — and living on my feet as a free woman, not on my knees as a cloistered damsel in dissent.

Which brings me back to my petition against death threats. From Indonesia to Venezuala, from Syria to Malaysia to India to America, from Kabul to Istanbul, a lot of you have recently signed. To see all the new names, cities and countries, click here and scroll down.

Keep adding your signatures, if not for yourselves then for the generations to whom you’re bequeathing this planet.

When Beth sent me the “anti-death threat,” she added this: “I have a 14-year-old daughter whom I very much want to form her own opinions and feel empowered to impact the world around her.” The anti-death threat might achieve that for millions more children.

Mullah malpractise

Posted in Irshaddering Thoughts, On The Road on May 04, 2008

Signing books at one of Indonesia’s biggest universities

The best ideas can be stated simply and clearly. You’ll love this one: malpractise suits against hateful mullahs.

Let me explain.

Last week, at one of Indonesia’s biggest universities, I spoke about the need to renew ijtihad, Islam’s own tradition of independent thinking, debate and re-interpretation. Two well-known scholars joined me. To my surprise, both agreed that ordinary Muslims, not just religious authorities, have the right and responsibility to exercise ijtihad. It’s when ordinary Muslims think for ourselves that we keep God’s self-appointed ambassadors honest.

During the Question and Answer session, a woman from the local Islamic political party disputed our call to democratize ijtihad. When she needs her teeth fixed, she said, she goes to a certified dentist, not some shmo (or Mo) spreading the gospel of indie thinking.

I must tell you that I hear the dentist analogy all the time. While it’s unoriginal, it’s also effective among Muslims who equate creativity with scientific formulas. Effective, that is, until now.

One of the professors on my panel responded to the woman this way:

When dentists and doctors harm people with their decisions, they can be sued for malpractise. Sister, if you’re going to liken religious authorities to medical professionals, then Muslims should have the right to sue mullahs when their conclusions harm people. And, in effect, that’s what Irshad Manji is doing by exposing their damage in the court of international public opinion.

Direct. Concise. Logical. Maybe too logical: The woman left before the Q & A ended.

Although I’ll never know her response, I do challenge the critics who read this site to send me their replies.

Meanwhile, don’t forget to floss.

As you’re doing that, enjoy my Indonesia photo album.

Way beyond Mecca

Posted in Irshaddering Thoughts, On The Road on Apr 30, 2008

In Indonesia, the book tour comes to an Islamic boarding school

Read my earlier newsletter from Indonesia and you’ll know that I’m on a mini-mission. I’m out to educate Western journalists about why they should look past the Arab world for signs of where Islam is heading.

In this spirit, let me draw your attention to a New York Times essay that compares my approach to Muslim reform with that of Ayaan Hirsi Ali. It’s an exquisitely crafted piece: respectful to each of us — neutral without lapsing into limpness. An impressive balance.

That said, I take issue with the author’s suggestion that our “most sympathetic audiences are probably Western” because neither Ayaan nor I has a “significant Muslim constituency in the Middle East.” Such a statement implies that Arabs are the only Muslims who matter.

Fact is, fewer than 20% of Muslims worldwide are Arab! Which means more than 80% of us are non-Arab. Shouldn’t media be asking how non-Arabs — the vast majority of Islam’s universe — are responding to ideas about religious reform?

Having just wrapped my book tour in Indonesia, I can help answer that question by sharing one of my favorite moments: I was invited to present my ideas at a pesantren — an Indonesian Islamic boarding school. (Notice the basketball court for girls, and the Chicago bulls backboard.)

Through my translator, I emphasized to the students that their uniquely Indonesian voices are needed more than ever. Indonesia represents the possibility for new Muslim leadership — the kind that replaces desert Arabia’s tribal mindset with a love of diversity.

Moreover, I said, the time to assert Indonesian diversity is now. Why? Not only because Saudi influences are on the rise, but also because so much of the world is thirsting for an alternative to the us-versus-them mentality of the tribe.

Witness America, struggling with itself to replace George W. Bush’s “you’re with us or you’re with the terrorists” attitude. If Americans now believe that they need a different vision, and they’re willing to challenge themselves to achieve it, what should stop Muslims from accepting the same challenge for ourselves?

Think about it this way, I proposed to the students: Barack Obama emerged from nowhere to be the champion of change. Even if he doesn’t become America’s president this time, his call for reform has been heard far and wide. It has framed the campaign. It has galvanized the silent (or silenced) masses. Young Indonesians, out of “nowhere,” can become the Muslim world’s Obama.

I reminded them that historically, the most compelling ideas have come from the periphery, not the center! Remember, too, that Indonesia is a democracy, with all of democracy’s flaws, but at least it gives citizens far more freedoms than Arab dictatorships do.

So, I concluded to the students, use your freedoms of thought, expression and conscience to imagine a fresh future for Islam — and for humanity. Then use digital media to circulate your ideas worldwide. Don’t worry about being agreed with; just spark the debate. And when you do, you’ll be showing reform-minded Muslims everywhere that they’re not alone.

At the end of our session, a gaggle of girls surrounded me to ask questions, shake hands and snap photos. One of them (ok, I’ll fess up: the one in the pink scarf) said — in slow and deliberate English — “I am so inspired now. Thank you, Wonder Woman.”

Wonder Woman! It’s not the compliment that I embraced; it’s the fact that this girl signaled, through a shared pop cultural reference, that you can withstand the bullets coming your way if you really believe in justice.

Inspired, in turn, by these young women, I went with them to visit fellow students in the dorms. The pictures below show you the warmth of the reception I got.

One of my adult hosts at the pesantren, an Indonesian scholar named Hindun Annisa, later escorted me to the boys’ side. Hindun and I had bonded earlier in the day. She served on a panel to discuss my film, Faith Without Fear, with 350 students at one of Indonesia’s largest universities.

Hindun pointed out to the students that Muslim theologians who talk about “Islamic” history usually mean “Arab” history, which is among the reasons that Indonesian thinking need not march in lockstep with that of the Middle East.

After my tour of the pesantren, Hindun’s mother — who lives at the school as its principal of sorts — invited me to come back.

I suspect it’s because Indonesians are relieved to hear a Western Muslim “get” their reality (or care about it at all) that my constituency in their country is growing big-time: Indonesia is now the third largest source of hits to this website. Currently, more site visitors are coming from Jakarta than from any other city in the world.

Question to media: Just because I don’t get love-bombed like this in the Middle East, is it fair to say that my sympathizers are Western? What are Indonesians? Chopped liver?

Hell, for the future of Islam, Indonesia might be more important than any other Muslim state. That’s for two demographic reasons: First, Indonesia alone has about as many Muslims as the entire Middle East. Second, its 300 ethnicities and scores of languages capture the pluralism of Islam’s believers with an accuracy that the Middle East simply can’t.

Look, by no means am I implying that we should dismiss Arab Muslims. God knows I don’t. That’s why I’ve translated my book into Arabic and posted it on this site for free-of-charge download. To date, there have been 300,000 downloads — never mind how that number explodes when you include the Urdu, Persian and Malay downloads. None of these languages is “Western” either.

The Prophet Muhammad reportedly encouraged a perpetual search for knowledge, even if that means going as far as China. I think he’d be equally supportive of going to Indonesia. (Similar time zones!)

Sure, for Muslim reform to gain traction, an audience in the Middle East matters. But not to the exclusion of everywhere else.

Here’s my Indonesia photo album – with many more pics to come. Give me time to get over my jet lag, would you?

Launching my book in the world’s biggest Muslim country

Posted in Irshaddering Thoughts, On The Road, Announcements on Apr 24, 2008

You heard me right: the biggest Muslim country anywhere. Indonesia, baby. That’s where I am to release The Trouble with Islam Today.

That’s also where my publisher presented me with a meaningful poster: “Silence is no longer an option.” Well, it’s never been with me. Now we can say the same about Jakarta!

Three hundred human rights activists, journalists and students attended. Not everybody came to express support, but isn’t civil dissent exactly the point of this mission for Muslim reform and moral courage?

You can learn more about my Indonesian launch through the newsletter that I’ve sent to my personal mailing list. If you want to subscribe, look for the “Get Updates” box on the right-hand side of this page.

Meanwhile, enjoy more moments from Indonesia…

Faith Without Fear launches Muslim film festival

Posted in Irshaddering Thoughts, On The Road, Announcements on Apr 14, 2008

Scene from “Faith Without Fear” showing me in a Yemeni classroom

Tonight in Boston, there won’t be a tea party.  But there will be an event that’s revolutionary in its own way: the American Islamic Congress is launching its first ever Muslim Film Festival — and my documentary, Faith Without Fear, kicks it off.

The festival highlights “think different women.” That means women on the front lines of reform, from Lebanon to Darfur. Featured films star Muslim female karate champions, women running for political office in Iran and Afghanistan, and Senegalese women using hip-hop as a way to transcend tribal politics. Fierce.

The American Islamic Congress is a civil rights organization working to end negative perceptions about Muslims. But not by playing victim. Instead, the AIC demands that Muslims lead by example. They recognize that we Muslims must champion social justice and pluralism within our own communities –- even at great personal risk.

Because the American Islamic Congress practices moral courage, I happily accepted their invitation to launch this year’s festival with my doc.

Faith Without Fear is being screened tonight at 6:30 pm at Boston University. I also invite you to stick around for the post-film discussion. Taking your questions on Muslim reform and moral courage will be Raquel Evita Saraswati, the coordinator of my charitable foundation, Project Ijtihad.

The event is free and open to the public. Click here for more information.

And to whet your appetite, watch selected clips of Faith Without Fear on my official YouTube channel.

In the spirit of the festival, thank you for thinking.

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